Bounty
by BensonRox1147
Summary: You aren't the Jareth I remember" she whispered fearfully. His eyes flickered with anger and he laughed maliciously. "Much has changed since last we met". Jareth's placed a bounty on Sarah. Why has he turned so cold hearted? j/s adult content later on.
1. Arrival

a/n: hey guys! This is my first labyrinth fic so be kind =D

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters 

*~*~*~*~*

The night air was cool on Sarah's face as she stood on the balcony of her little brother's window. She was alone in the house tonight; her dad and step mom had taken Toby to Karen's mother's house for the weekend. Sarah had declined the invitation most willingly.

It had been a year to the day, in fact, that Sarah had first stumbled upon Jareth and his mysterious labyrinth, a year since she had won her brother back, and a year since she had fallen in love with the goblin king.

She looked up into the dark, night sky. The stars sparkled like little glittering diamonds but were almost dull in comparison to the illuminated effect of the bright glowing orb that was the moon. Sarah thought of Jareth almost every time she saw the moon: it was magnificent; a king among the stars, in a sense. It was always watching over her, just as she knew he was, in his crystals. And it was a glorious reminder that he would always be a constant in her life, whether he was present or not. Sarah knew that she would never forget about Jareth. Thoughts of him would always plague her mind.

A light breeze rustled through the trees and danced lightly across her face. She closed her eyes and let it wash over her. When the breeze was gone, she sigh and walked back into her brother's room, closing the doors to the balcony behind her. Sarah walked back to her room and sat down at her vanity, looking upon her reflection in the mirror. Not much had changed between last year and present day. She still had her long, brown hair and shimmering green eyes, her rosy cheeks and ivory complexion.

Sarah picked up her brush and started running it through her hair, humming the song from the ball she had 'attended' with Jareth. Again, a reminder of the goblin king.

As Sarah starting replaying the scene in her head as she often did, she grew oblivious to the silent snickering coming from various places in her room, such as under her bed and in her closet. It was only when the snickering grew to cackling that Sarah noticed about 10 goblins in her bedroom, surrounding her at her vanity. She whipped her head around and bolted up from the chair. Sarah noticed something unusual about them, though: they were all wearing masks. Not like the ones from the ball, but masks all the same.

"What are you all doing here?" she asked them, holding her brush out as if to hit them with it.

The goblins looked up at eachother and started laughing again. One of the goblins grinned a toothy smirk and jumped up on her shoulders, tying a cloth around her mouth for a makeshift gag while another seized her wrists and bound them behind her back. The goblin atop her shoulders covered her eyes as she tried to struggle.

When he took his hand off, she was not in her bedroom anymore. Oh, she knew where she was alright, for she had dreamt about this place many nights since her last visit: the Labyrinth.

Another goblin, one whom carried a spear, poked it in her back, gesturing for her to start walking. She did, not asking any questions. One of them got the door to appear before them. Opening it, he and the other masked goblins beckoned Sarah in. She followed them into the maze, confused and slightly frightened. They followed the path, obviously knowing the direction they were going, and led her straight to an unguarded door. They opened it and pushed Sarah through, the rest following in pursuit. Sarah, as well as the rest of the goblins, immediately fell through a trap door.

Sarah tried screaming because the sudden fall had caught her off guard, but only a muffled cry came out from under her gag. She immediately felt a million cold, clammy hands reaching for her but saw the goblins shoeing them away, preventing them from breaking their fall.

When they finally landed, Sarah looked around but was not at all shocked to see that she was in the Oubliette. She immediately rolled over so she wouldn't get hit by the falling masked goblins.

Once they were all there, the goblins looked at eachother and nodded, taking off their masks. Sarah's eyes lit up as their leader, the one who had gagged her, took off his mask to reveal that his identity was that of Hoggle!

He waddled over to Sarah and untied her and took off her gag.

"Hoggle!" she cried, and hugged him fiercely. Then, she unwound herself from him and gave him a very serious look. "What was that all about?".

"Just for show, ya know?" he said. She gave him a very confused look. He returned it with a look of sorrow.

Hoggle turned and beckoned for the others to come and sit next to him and Sarah. Hoggle sighed and started speaking.

"Jareth has put a bounty on your head. Says that the first goblin who can bring ya to him is gonna get a grand sum of gold," he said. Sarah was dumbfounded. Why would Jareth do this, especially since he was more than capable of retrieving her himself?

"Why, Hoggle? He has the power to come and get me. Why get other people to do it? And why did you kidnap me? Are you turning me in?" she asked, a note of worry in her tone. Hoggle laughed and shook his head.

"Well, we don't know what he wants with ya. But whatever it is, its obviously not good. The reason he wants us goblins to do it is 'cause he's busy doin' somethin' right now. I don't know what, but he's been awfully busy with it. And of course I'm not gonna turn you in! The only reason I brought you here is because its safer here than it is Aboveground," Hoggle said. Sarah shook her head.

"But that doesn't even make any sense! How is it safer here, on his turf, than up there on mine?" she asked, scratching her head. Hoggle pulled a folded up piece of parchment out of his pocket and handed it to her, as if he was expecting her to ask that question.

She unfolded it and read it aloud the underlined section:

"All mortals whom have a bounty placed upon them by the Goblin King may only claim sanctuary in the labyrinth in order to solve it and finish at the castle beyond the goblin city in order to reconcile with the king himself, for he shall pass the final judgment. However, if the mortal does not make it through the labyrinth within 13 hours, the king will decide the fate of said mortal".

She finished reading the text and looked up at Hoggle, who looked extremely pleased with himself.

"Don't you worry, Sarah. I have everything planned out. No goblin can touch you here because of that sanctuary clause. You've already made your way through here once before. All you gotta do is get through it again, go to Jareth and find out what he's cookin' up in that castle of his, and tell him to bugger off! Piece of cake, remember?" he said, and she giggled.

Sarah, of course knew that it wasn't going to be as easy as Hoggle made it out to be, but she was willing to give it a shot. Once you've hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up, right?

With that in mind, Sarah got up and the goblins followed in suit.

"Hoggle," she started, "why can't you just lead me through the labyrinth?". Hoggle shook his head.

"If we get caught helping you, Jareth will ring our necks. And we're no good to you dead, are we?" Hoggle said. Sarah nodded and Hoggle continued, "we're gonna meet you in the goblin city as, um, a sort of backup plan if you need us, if you know what I mean…" he gestured to his spear and Sarah laughed.

"Alright, I guess I'll see you guys there," she said. Hoggle nodded and him and his goblin pocie climbed back up the way they came, putting their masks back on before they left.

After they were gone and the door was shut once more, Sarah took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This wasn't gonna be easy, and she knew it, but she was ready to put up a fight. She beat him before, hadn't she?

Sarah looked around at the room, dimly lit by candles. She went over and picked one up to use to light her path out of the Oubliette. She started walking and followed the path that she remembered Hoggle taking her on during her last visit.

Piece of cake, right?

Little did she know that a certain one of her 'feathery friends' was watching her every move in his spherical crystal.

He gracefully twirled the crystal around his hand, onto his other hand, and into his pocket.

"So, my pet, you think you can defeat me again, do you? Well, my dear Sarah, you are in for a big surprise," said his icy voice.

*~*~*~*~*

a/n: so what'd you think? I kinda like, but id LOVE to know what you thought. Review for me!! Luv ya!!

-Your humble author


	2. Nostalgia

a/n: hey guys!! Here's the next chapter of my story. Hope you like it!!

*~*~*~*

Sarah continued down the dark path of the Oubliette, full of fear and excitement at the same time. She was extremely curious as to what Jareth had in store for her, but was also very frightened at the same time. Jareth was very powerful and could be very cruel and, although she could take comfort in the sanctuary rule, this was still Jareth's turf. Even here, anything was possible.

She started passing some of the stone faces who kept saying in their booming voices 'BEWARE' and 'GO BACK'. Sarah smiled and continued to walk on.

"Well I guess it was nice to see some familiar faces," she said to herself and grinned.

As she continued on, she started to pass some unfamiliar territory. She dug deep in the dark crevices of her mind to try and remember but realized that she wouldn't find these images there because this was her first time in this part of the labyrinth. Sarah remembered that the last time, Jareth had appeared and summoned the cleaners, forcing Hoggle and her off of their original path.

She continued to walk anyway, sure that she would come across an opening of some kind soon.

Well, after about two hours of wandering around the Oubliette, Sarah was getting nervous. What if she couldn't find a way out?

Sarah doubled back and followed the path to the last familiar sight from her previous experience- the spot where Jareth had appeared as some sort of blind beggar (a/n: that's what I got out of it =D)

She looked around for the wall panel which she and Hoggle had knocked down to another corridor in the maze. She started kicking random panels until, finally, she felt one budge a little. Focusing all her strength on it, she charged up and rammed her shoulder blade into the wall. It budged a little more.

After her fourth attempt, she ended up on the other side, the wall beneath her feet. She was quite pleased with herself. That is, until she heard a terrible, horrible laughter coming from behind her. Sarah felt the temperature in the room drop 5 degrees.

She heard _his _books walk slowly across the cold floor in very swift strides. She heard _his _cape swoosh through the air as he walked. It was _him._

All of the powerful feelings that Sarah had felt only a moment ago had vanished when he appeared. She wasn't very scared, she was nervous. Sarah was in love with Jareth, remember? She wasn't sure she was ready to face him but, straightening her back and raising her chin, she turned around to face him.

Jareth was standing there, looking as magnificent as ever. He had on his white, puffy shirt (a/n: not exactly sure what to call it) and black vest, his tights and boots, and cape with his riding crop in hand. He was leaning against the wall in a very nonchalant fashion, looking at her with his beautiful mismatched eyes. His hair was still gossamer on his head but flowed in long, platinum locks a little past his shoulders. Sarah still found him to be stunning.

He smirked as he pushed off the wall and glided toward her.

"Welcome back, Sarah," he said in his cold voice. A shiver went up Sarah's spine but she maintained her posture.

She tried to think of something witty to say back but all she could manage was, "Hello, Jareth". Sarah mentally slapped herself.

"I was so excited when I heard of your arrival. It seems to me that you've grown quite fond of my labyrinth, haven't you?" he asked, crossing his arms and staring at her intently, still smirking. Fire flared in Sarah's eyes; she didn't like being toyed with.

"I trust that you know why you are here," he continued. Sarah nodded, for she couldn't force any words to spew from her mouth. "I was informed by some of my subjects that you have claimed sanctuary. You are aware, I trust, that you have 13 hours in which you may solve my labyrinth and meet me at my castle. However," he paused, leaning in so that he was only about a centimeter away from her face, "I just couldn't wait 13 hours to see you again, especially after you untimely departure from your last visit."

Sarah could feel his hot breath on her face. Her breath hitched for only a moment but she remained with her cool demeanor and said, "I know why I'm here. You placed a bounty on me. But what I don't know is why. Why do you want me back here, Jareth?"

Jareth smirked and stepped back a few paces. He waved his hand gracefully through the air and a crystal appeared in it.

"You'll find out soon enough. In the mean time," he trailed off as he flung the crystal through the air and down a dark corridor. Sarah heard a loud mechanical buzzing coming from the end that grew louder as it approached. Sarah's stomach flipped in her body as she realized what the sound was. Jareth looked thoroughly pleased with himself and turned on his heel.

" I hope you enjoy your little 'welcome back' present. I look forward to our next visit. Until next time," he said, and with that, he was gone. Sarah stared down the corridor as the mechanical monster reared its ugly head: the cleaners.

"Oh shit," she whispered. Then, regaining the feeling in her previously numb legs, Sarah ran as fast as her feet could take her. The cleaners were gaining on her and she thought that they would actually catch her. That is, until she spied an all too familiar ladder at the end of the path. Picking up her already lightning fast pace, Sarah made it to the ladder and climbed like there was no tomorrow. The crashed right through the wall beneath her.

Sarah climbed to the opening and out of the Oubliette, feeling thankful for the sunlight on her skin. She stood up and peered around. There were many leafy green hedges and some stone structures here and there, but she knew that she could make it through again.

As she started walking past some hedges, she started contemplating the cleaners. _'I thought that none of the goblins could touch me while I was here. Maybe it just excludes the goblin king himself,'_ she thought. Sarah shook her head and continued walking through the giant maze.

Meanwhile, Hoggle was having his own fair share of trouble in the Goblin city. Jareth had found out about Hoggle's plan (apparently, the masks didn't work very well) and, although he couldn't do anything about it until Sarah actually got there, Jareth could still punish the goblin.

Currently, he had Hoggle in his thrown room with some of the others in his band of 'miscreants'. Some of the others had escaped, but the rest had been captured. They were all being held by Jareth's loyal subjects. Jareth stared at Hoggle who looked as proud as a peacock, obviously not ashamed of what he did. Jareth got up from the thrown that he was draped over and walked over to Hoggle, bending down to his level.

"So, you felt it was your rightful place to interfere with my plans, did you?" he asked Hoggle. The goblin said nothing but smiled and nodded. Jareth smirked and stood back up to his full height.

"Turn the piece of filth around," Jareth said, and the goblins holding Hoggle turned him so his back was to Jareth. Without warning, Jareth brought his riding crop down on Hoggle's back. Hoggle let out a surprised shriek as Jareth did this nine more times. After he was done, the goblins dropped Hoggle on the floor onto his hands and knees. Jareth faced the rest of the rebellious goblins.

"You see your comrade? This is only a sliver of the price you will pay if you defy me again. Do you understand?" he asked, slightly shouting the last bit. The goblins coward in fear and nodded their heads.

"Good," he said, "now take this one to the dungeons to let him think about what he did wrong. Maybe Sarah will cooperate more once she finds out I have her little friend".

"Sarah will never cooperate with you, you coward!" Hoggle said as the goblin guards picked him up and cuffed his wrists. Jareth frowned and walked over to Hoggle.

"I'd watch your tongue if I was you. She may be protected by sanctuary while she's inside the labyrinth but once she gets here, we can 'negotiate' what will become of her. It's only a mere obstacle in my plans. Know that it's quite easy to overcome and that you've lost your freedom for a worthless cause," Jareth said, and he waved his hand. The goblins escorted a now very worried Hoggle to the dungeons. He then dismissed the rest of the goblins and let them off with a not so friendly warning.

Jareth draped himself over his throne in a now very empty throne room. Summoning a crystal, Jareth watched as Sarah navigated easily through the labyrinth, making her way closer to his castle. He smirked as she continued on.

"I cannot wait for you to arrive, my love. I know you will be very eager to accept the offer I've designed for you," he said as he watched Sarah. She would be here soon enough. And then, the fun would begin.

*~*~*~*

a/n: AWWWWWW poor Hoggle!!! So, what's Jareth gonna offer Sarah? Review and I might just tell you =D seriously, though, REVIEW!!!


	3. Decision making

a/n: hey guys I'm back! Thanks for your reviews! Please enjoy the next chapter.

Oh, and special thanks to Kitty Cassidy for your suggestions. I will remember to use them in the future of this story.

*~*~*~*

Sarah literally ran through the labyrinth quickly, not wanting to waste any time on this experience. She was eager to get to the goblin king's castle as soon as she could in order to sort out this affair.

Right

Left

Right

Right

Left

She breezed through until she felt her lungs contracting in her body trying to suck in as much oxygen as they could. She stopped and stretched her arms above her head and just breathed.

Adrenaline was pumping through her veins like heroine, jumpstarting her system with a feeling of invincibility. Sarah felt like she could conquer King Kong if she wanted to. And surely the goblin king was a much easier opponent than King Kong, right?

Sarah continued walking as her breathing became regular. She walked past all sorts of hedges and topiaries and statues. Her adrenaline rush urged her to start running and as she sped around a corner, she tripped over a mass on the ground.

She fell on her stomach which knocked the wind out of her. Sarah turned over on her back to see what had caused her to fall: it was a goblin. A very injured goblin. Its clothes were tattered and had all sorts of bruises on it. One of its eyelids was swollen shut and blood protruded from a split lip. In short, he looked like shit.

"Omigosh! Are you alright?" she asked him, picking him up and cradling him in her arms. The goblin looked at her through his good eye.

"Are you Sarah?" he asked her weakly.

"Yeah. Who are you?" she asked him, dabbing the blood away from his lip with her sleeve.

"Igor," he replied. Igor then reached into his tiny vest pocket and retrieved a small satchel. He held it up to Sarah's face.

"This is from Hoggle. He slipped it to me before the guards captured him. I only just got away," he said, and Sarah took the bag with one hand while still holding him in the other and examined its contents. It was Hoggle's jewelry collection. Tears started appearing in the corners of her eyes.

"Jareth has him now?" she asked, fighting off the urge to cry. She felt sick to her stomach. How could she have let Hoggle interfere with her wellbeing? And get punished for it? She could only imagine what horrible things Jareth would do to him for just being acquainted with her, let alone spoil Jareth's plans for her!

"You must hurry, Sarah. Jareth is waiting. You've got to save Hoggle!" Igor said. Sarah nodded, but first she tore off one of her sleeves and tied it around his arm for a makeshift sling (his arm was apparently broken). The goblin hobbled off after thanking her.

Sarah was pissed. No, she was beyond pissed. She was outraged. Hoggle was her friend and Jareth knew that. Hoggle was also the reason she was back in the labyrinth in the first place! How dare that king punish Hoggle for only trying to keep her safe! She would make sure Hoggle was safe. That would be number one on her negotiation priorities.

With this new found determination, Sarah marched down the paths of the labyrinth, ready to take down anyone who stood in her way.

*~*~*~*

Sarah made it to the castle before her time was even close to being over. For this, she was proud. Anger, unfortunately, was still the dominant feeling within her, though.

She stormed through the goblin city and the inhabitants made sure to steer clear of her. She got to the castle gates and didn't even bother knocking. Sarah flung the doors open and trudged through the castle until she reached the THRONE (t-h-r-o-n-e) room. She walked in to find Jareth lounging on his THRONE, twirling some crystals in his hands.

"Sarah, dear, I'm so glad you could make it," he said in a lazy tone. Sarah marched right up to him.

"Well I'm hear to negotiate with you, Jareth. First off, I want you to release Hoggle," she said in a very mature tone of voice. Jareth chuckled and got up, invading her personal bubble. He got very close to her ear.

"Why do you think that you get to call the shots?" he asked her, sounding amused. Sarah wasn't in the mood to be toyed with again. She just really wanted to free Hoggle, because freeing him would free her conscience as well. Sarah could never live knowing that she cost a dear friend their freedom on her behalf.

"Look, Jareth, I don't care what you have planned or why you want me here. Just let Hoggle go and I'll consider cooperating with you," she said pleadingly. Jareth looked into her eyes. They practically said it all. He could see her furiously blinking back tears that threatened to spill from them and this amused him even more.

"The goblin in question is being held for treason against the king and is set to die. I'm sorry Sarah, but I told that I can be cruel," he said. Sarah looked into his eyes. They were cold and dull, not like to warm, vibrant eyes she would dream about at night. He had changed.

"You aren't the Jareth I remember" she whispered fearfully. His eyes flickered with anger and he laughed maliciously.

"Much has changed since last we met," he said and started walking back over to his throne, "your friend sealed his fate when he brought you here". Sarah was desperate now. She HAD to free Hoggle.

"Wait! There must be something I can do! Please Jareth, I'll do anything!" she begged him. Jareth sat on his throne and scratched his chin.

"Anything, you say?" he asked. She didn't like where this was going.

"Yes…" she said hesitantly. Sarah didn't like the look in Jareth's eyes. It made her cringe.

Jareth looked up at her and smirked.

"Alright. Hoggle may be release…if," he started, "you marry me". Sarah stared at him, perplexed. Hadn't he just tried to kill her with the cleaners in the maze? Now he was asking, no, telling her she needed to marry him in order to save her friend.

"What?" was her automatic response. If he had come to her a day earlier when she was gazing at the moon, she might have actually said yes in a heartbeat. However, under the circumstances of the proposal, she wasn't so sure. But she was sure that she needed to save Hoggle. She owed it to him.

"You promise you'll let him go if I say yes?" Sarah asked. Jareth gave her a bemused look and got up. He walked over to her and cupped her cheek. He felt her tremble under his touch.

Jareth wanted to make her pay for making him look like a fool when she beat him. He wanted her to feel as powerless as he had felt. This was the most perfect way of doing so.

"Of course. You have my word as king of the goblins," he said. Sarah hesitated and stepped back, out of his reach.

"Okay. I'll marry you," she said in a quiet voice. Jareth smirked and grabbed her wrist. He then started walking through the castle. Sarah had to take quick strides to keep up with his long ones.

"Where are we going?" she asked him. He didn't reply but brought her to a huge bedroom. He threw her in and closed the door. Sarah was gripped his forearm to keep from falling and couldn't help but notice the muscles of his bicep.

"What's going on, Jareth?" she asked, annoyed.

"Just ensuring that you don't take back you part of the bargain. I'll be back for you tomorrow for our wedding. Until then, my love," Jareth said. He then bent his head down and tilted it a little. Before she knew what was happening, Jareth's lips were upon hers, lightly brushing against them. Sarah was surprised by his gentleness. A moment ago, he was cold and angry. Now he was warm and gentle.

Jareth was the one who broke the kiss. He started walking out when Sarah blurted out, "how do I know that you'll keep your end of the deal?".

"My dear Sarah," he started, placing a hand over his heart, "would I lie to you?"

*~*~*~*

a/n: the answer to that question would be yes, he would lie to her. But you'll find out about that later.

Well, how was it? Good, bad? Give me something, people! Review! Don't you wanna find out what happens?

-Your humble author


	4. Wedded Bliss

a/n: hey guys! Sorry it took a while. School just got back in so I kinda got sidetracked. Anyway, here's the next chapter

thanks to hazlgrnLizzy for the useful information. I didn't know that but thank you for letting me know. I'll make sure to use it!

*~*~*~*

Sarah turned around after Jareth left her there. She gazed upon the room that she was now being held captive in. It was a magnificent room! The bed was mahogany with purple silk covers on it (the color of royalty). The curtains were a majestic purple, as were the surrounding walls. The desk, opposite the bed, was also mahogany. There was no carpeting; merely a wood floor with a lavender rug in between the desk and bed. That was about the extent of the room.

Sarah lied down in the bed. The sheets felt soft and delicate beneath her, like the cotton clouds that were turning orange with the sunset right outside her window.

Sarah couldn't think about her life from this point forward. It was not exactly how she pictured getting married. She felt it would be with someone she dated for a long time. For God's sake! She was only 16!

She shuttered at this thought, about spending the rest of her life in the underground with Jareth and his goblins. She'd never see her dad or Toby or Karen again! Sarah would be stuck in this Labyrinth forever!

As the sun went down and the light streaming into her room was a darker shade of orange, Sarah felt her eyelids droop. She hadn't slept in over a day or so. With her last thoughts of her wedding, Sarah's eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep.

*~*~*~*

Jareth sauntered down a corridor, feeling particularly thrilled that he had won.

Ah, yes, winning. That's what this was all about, right? Beating Sarah at last. He could care less about the girl- or her feelings for that matter. So what if she didn't get what she wanted? That's the price you pay for being defeated. To Jareth, this was merely a game. A game in which he was the victor. So, why was he feeling something more than happiness? He was obviously happy that he had won, but was he happier about _who_ he had won? Of course he didn't really have feelings for her…or did he…

Jareth shrugged off the sickening feeling as he approached the dungeon where Hoggle was being held. The wrenched the door open and strode down a spiraling staircase into the dungeon. When he got down to the bottom, he gazed upon Hoggle, who was asleep on a pile of hay in the corner of the room.

Jareth glided over to him and kicked him in the side. Hoggle yelped out in pain and surprise, but when he looked up, hatred was the only emotion present in Hoggle's eyes.

"Whadda you want?" he asked, straightening up and looking at the goblin king. Jareth merely smirked and wrenched him up by the front of his shirt. Hoggle was eyelevel with Jareth, his feet dangling in the air.

"I'm sorry to let you know that your plan didn't work. Sarah succumbed, only on the condition that you are released. So, naturally, I am willing to oblige. However," Jareth paused briefly, "you will not leave my castle. I want you close at hand just in case Sarah isn't eager to…cooperate".

Hoggle eyed him, looking like he was going to attack with the ferocity of a tiger. He tried swinging his fists at Jareth but Jareth just laughed and held him at arms length.

"So, for the time being, you will be a servant in my castle. You will clean and attend to any task I ask of you. You may not, however, associate with Sarah. If I catch you even so much within a 50 feet radius, I will beat to near death," Jareth said.

"She wont be here for long, Jareth. Sarah's smart and she'll find a way to escape. Ya know ya cant keep her locked up in here forever!" Hoggle said. Jareth rolled his eyes and dropped him. Hoggle landed with a loud THUD on the stone floor and Jareth started walking away.

"Your first duty is to polish up the good silver. I want it to sparkle for all of my wedding guests," he said. Jareth walked out and back into the corridor, leaving poor Hoggle to do his work.

Yes, Jareth was utterly pleased with himself. Still, there was a little voice in the back of his head telling him that he had not won yet. It said that Hoggle was right and Sarah would escape him yet again. Jareth frowned as he walked on, but shook his head at the ridiculous idea.

*~*~*~*

The next day, Sarah was roughly awakened by a goblin woman. She shook Sarah, who was still in deep slumber.

"Whaaaat?" she groaned, turning over in the bed.

"It's time to get up, Mistress Sarah," said the goblin woman, "you're getting married in 2 hours!".

That got Sarah up. She shot up and stared in disbelief at the goblin.

"WHAT? He wants to get married now? But I just got here yesterday!" she said after the numb shock wore off. The goblin shook her head and drew the covers down.

"We've got to get you ready. Can't go down to your own wedding looking like this, now can you?" she said, ushering Sarah out of bed. She had her showered and clothed within an hour.

As the goblin was doing her hair in the bathroom, Sarah stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked completely different- much older. Her gown was pearly white and sleeveless. Her hair was curled and fell gracefully down her back and after the make up was applied, Sarah looked absolutely stunning.

"Aww, you look absolutely lovely, Miss" said the goblin woman. Sarah got up and followed the goblin down the hallway. Her heart was thumping so rapidly and loudly she thought the woman could hear it. Tears began forming in Sarah's eyes and her stomach was doing summersaults.

When they got to the door of the throne room, the goblin woman put a veil on Sarah's head and handed her the bouquet.

"They'll be waitin' for you now, Miss. Best get a move on," said. Sarah nodded and wiped away a tear as the door opened. Sarah was surprised to see that the throne room was completely empty except Jareth and the goblin priest. She glanced at Jareth, who looked as handsome as ever. He smirked at her as she started walking down the aisle.

Tears silently fell. Sarah thought about how much she used to love Jareth and how those feelings had changed to those of hatred and loathing. She no longer saw him as her protector, but as her opponent in this never ending game.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sarah made it to the end of the aisle. It was after she said 'I do' that she knew this was not the end of the game. She would win, one way or another. And if that meant that she would have to play by his rules for a little while, then so be it. Sarah would defeat him once again.

Jareth would never know what hit him.

*~*~*~*

a/n: I know you may feel like this was a pointless chapter, but it had to be written in. The next chapter includes a fiasco on the wedding night, so tune in for more! REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!!!

-your humble author


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